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Javier Atalaya, the fitness coach of Real Madrid star Karim Benzema, has clarified that he is unaware of the forward's future at the Santiago Bernabeu after sharing a cryptic post on Instagram.
As things stand, Benzema has less than two months remaining on his current deal with the club. The current club captain could leave Real Madrid on a free transfer at the end of the 2022-23 season.
Javier Atalaya posted an Instagram story with Benzema's picture with the caption:
“2023, the worst year in Real Madrid's history.”
This fuelled speculation about the France forward's immediate future with Los Blancos. The fitness coach, however, later clarified that he had just intended to post fan art and he does not have any idea about Karim Benzema's next move this summer.
In Javier Atalaya's defense, has reposted several fan artwork on his Instagram in the past few hours. Javier Atalaya posted another story on his Instagram account and said the following:
"Given the information spread by various media I am forced to clarify that in no case have I said goodbye to Benzema. So I have only limited myself to reposting a post from a 'fan' account without paying too much attention to the message he put. That has been my mistake. the future of Karim is also a mystery to me."
Javier Atalaya's original Instagram post can be seen below:
Karim Benzema is currently facing uncertainty over his immediate future. According to Fabrizio Romano, the former Lyon forward has received a lucrative offer from an unnamed Saudi Arabian club.
The Frenchman and his camp are seriously considering the offer from the Middle East and could join his former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League next season.
Fabrizio Romano, however, has also claimed that the Los Blancos hierarchy has offered Benzema a contract extension until June 2024 should we wish to stay. The former France international is expected to make a quick decision on his future and should make it public by the end of this week.
Karim Benzema has had another successful season for Real Madrid in front of goal
Karim Benzema has had another successful season on a personal level at Real Madrid. The attacker is set to end yet another season as the club's leading goalscorer across all competitions.
At the time of writing, Benzema has netted 30 goals and provided six assists from 42 matches in all competitions. This includes a tally of 18 goals and three assists from 23 games in La Liga. He is currently the second-highest goalscorer in the league this season and only trails Robert Lewandowski (23 goals) in the charts.
Karim Benzema won three trophies this season, lifting the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and the Copa Del Rey.
Real Madrid, however, lost out to rivals Barcelona in the La Liga title race and were knocked out by Manchester City in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League following a 5-1 aggregate defeat.
